Lesson 7: Automating with n8n and Make - Learn FFmpeg Course

Why Automate Video Processing?

In Lesson 6, you learned how to run FFmpeg through an API. That is a huge step up from running commands manually. But you still have to write the code that triggers the API call, handles the webhook, and moves the output to storage.

Workflow automation platforms like n8n and Make (formerly Integromat) let you build these pipelines visually — no code required. You connect triggers (a new file in Google Drive, a form submission, a scheduled time) to actions (call FFmpeg Micro, upload to S3, send a notification) using a drag-and-drop interface.

The result: a fully automated video pipeline that runs 24/7 without you touching it.

n8n vs. Make: Which to Use

	n8n	Make
Hosting	Self-hosted or n8n Cloud	Cloud only
Pricing	Free (self-hosted), paid cloud	Free tier, paid plans
Best for	Developers, complex logic	Non-technical users, simple flows
HTTP requests	Built-in HTTP node	Built-in HTTP module
FFmpeg Micro	Works via HTTP Request node	Works via HTTP module

Both work well with FFmpeg Micro's API. The examples below use n8n, but the same logic applies to Make — just use Make's HTTP module instead of n8n's HTTP Request node.

Example: Auto-Process Uploaded Videos

Here is a common workflow: when a new video is uploaded to Google Drive, automatically transcode it for web and save the result back.

Workflow overview

Trigger: Google Drive — watch for new files in a folder
Get download URL: Generate a temporary public link for the file
Submit FFmpeg job: HTTP Request to FFmpeg Micro API
Wait: Poll the job status until complete (or use a webhook)
Upload result: Download the output and upload to the destination
Notify: Send a Slack message or email confirming the job is done

Step 3: The HTTP Request node

This is the core of the workflow — the node that calls FFmpeg Micro. Configure it like this in n8n:

Method:POST

URL:https://api.ffmpeg-micro.com/v1/jobs

Authentication:Header Auth — Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

Body (JSON):

{ "input": "{{ $node['Google Drive'].json.downloadUrl }}", "command": "-c:v libx264 -crf 23 -preset fast -movflags +faststart -c:a aac", "output_format": "mp4" }

The {{ }} syntax is n8n's expression language — it pulls the download URL from the previous node's output.

Example: Batch Social Media Clips

Another powerful pattern: take a single landscape video and automatically generate versions for every platform.

Trigger: Webhook or manual trigger with a video URL
Split into 3 parallel branches:

Branch A — YouTube (1080p)

-vf "scale=1920:1080:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=1920:1080:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2" -c:v libx264 -crf 23

Branch B — Reels/TikTok (9:16)

-vf "crop=ih*9/16:ih,scale=1080:1920" -c:v libx264 -crf 23

Branch C — Square (1:1)

-vf "crop=ih:ih,scale=1080:1080" -c:v libx264 -crf 23

Upload all 3 outputs to cloud storage
Notify via Slack with download links

This turns one upload into three platform-ready videos. Since FFmpeg Micro processes jobs in parallel, all three finish at roughly the same time.

Using Webhooks Instead of Polling

Instead of polling the job status in a loop, you can provide a webhook URL when submitting the job. FFmpeg Micro will call your webhook when processing is complete:

{ "input": "https://storage.example.com/input.mp4", "command": "-c:v libx264 -crf 23 -c:a aac", "output_format": "mp4", "webhook_url": "https://your-n8n-instance.com/webhook/ffmpeg-done" }

In n8n, set up a Webhook trigger node at that URL. When FFmpeg Micro calls it, the workflow continues with the output file details. This is cleaner and more efficient than polling.

More Workflow Ideas

YouTube to podcast: Download a YouTube video, extract the audio as MP3, upload to your podcast host
Watermark on upload: Automatically add your logo to every video uploaded to a shared folder
Daily highlights: Concatenate the day's clips into a single video every night at midnight
Thumbnail generation: Extract a frame at the 5-second mark as a JPEG for every new video
Auto-compress for email: When a large video hits a folder, create a compressed version under 25MB for email attachment

Learn More

For detailed walkthroughs with step-by-step screenshots:

Using FFmpeg Micro with n8n — complete n8n integration guide
Using FFmpeg Micro with Make — complete Make integration guide
Video: How to use FFmpeg with n8n Cloud — hands-on video tutorial

Key Takeaways

n8n and Make let you build video processing pipelines visually — no code required
Both platforms call FFmpeg Micro via standard HTTP requests
Use webhooks instead of polling for cleaner, more efficient workflows
Parallel branches let you generate multiple platform versions from one input
Combine with triggers (file upload, schedule, form) to build fully automated pipelines

Course Complete!

You have covered everything from basic FFmpeg commands to fully automated video workflows. You now know how to transcode, resize, crop, manipulate audio, add watermarks, and process video at scale through an API.

Start Building — Free Trial API Documentation

Automating with n8n and Make